You, Me and this Old House
by Serenity984
Summary: A story of present time and one of the past brought together in a house with a haunting history. Can Mimi and Tai communicate with the dead that are living in the old house? Will they find a way to help?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note:

This is an accidental story. As I was writing on a new story of mine, this came to mind. I suffered from long-term writer's block and now it seems it has passed and I have so many ideas! I'm sure most of you writers understand what I am going through!

Well, I do hope you enjoy this story. This is a tale where present time and past crash together. A love story for today and yesterday people. Sora/Matt and Mimi/Tai. Hey, wait a minute! Don't be so quick to turn away. I read stories the other way around and Matt/Sora coupling are the couple which I am comfortable _writing_ about. They fit **MY **stories. However, I never let the Common Prejudice Coupling Virus (C.P.C.V) interfer with a story I am _reading_. I understand that each author brings to light a different view and with that comes amazing work and tales. So to everyone who favours and only willing to read stories of their couples, give this a swirl. See past the coupling and read the story I tell.

* * *

Mimi watched her husband carefully as he walked through each room. She had driven by this home several times and when it went up for sale she could not wait to tell Tai. 

He had finally admitted that he was ready for the next stage, making a family. He wanted a least twenty kids but Mimi talked him down to at least two for the time being.

"_I want to look down the family dinner table and see my sons and daughters with their own family. I want to say, hey I created this…" He had shared with her. "And I want you to be by my side. We'll be great-great grand parents!"_

"_We'll be old Tai." Mimi rolled her eyes. "I'll be a grey haired and wrinkled so bad even botax wouldn't be able to help me. And you will be bald and unable to do any activities in bed besides snoring."_

"_Maybe but we'll be happy and you will still look as beautiful then as you do now." Tai had told her. _

"So?" The realtor looked at the two young couple.

"Well…" Tai turned to Mimi. "Large rooms, plenty of bedrooms for a large family. The yard is exceptional! I can see hours and hours of outdoor time. A garden for you…"

"We'll need a garden." Mimi put in. She had not worked her fingernails to get dirt under them.

"The wooded area would be great for camping when the kids are young…" Tai went on.

Mimi could not help but smile when he mentioned their kids.

"I like it." Tai looked at Mimi.

"You already know how I feel." Mimi sighed with relief.

The home was old, one of the oldest in the area, and recently modeled for up-to-date connivances. She was worried that Tai would find it too big and overly priced. It was not a cheap home by far.

The house was build in the mid- 1800's. Needless to say, it was a very grand home, which has a spectacular two-story living hall with elaborate cherry woodwork that astounded you.

The stairway was detailed and sturdy as it gleamed in its polished. A single trail of white carpet runner, which laid the length of the steps. Magnificent pictures hung over the walls, which Mimi made sure that the interior décor's would be purchase with the home. Eleven bedrooms and four baths the home was very large indeed. In the day of the past, servants would be living in some of the rooms but Mimi and Tai refused that…well maybe one maid would be nice.

* * *

"And you are okay with the history of the house?" Izzy asked his friend who sat across from him. 

"Sure. It's old." Tai nodded looking around Izzy's apartment. Without thought, he placed his feet on the table of Izzy's living room.

Izzy cleared his throat while looking down at his friend's ill manner position. Tai quickly place his feet on the floor. "I don't mean that. With old homes such as the one you recently purchased, stories come along with it."

"Stories?" Tai frowned. "What kind of stories?"

"You know the kind. Haunting stories. Young loves, hatred, revenge, murders, accidents, fires, the list just goes on and on of tragic events and mishaps."

"And what kind of story does my home have and how do you know all this?" Tai asked.

"Well while you enjoyed the sport activates, Joe and I enjoyed during research on old ghost tales."

"This is somewhat surprising and intriguing." Tai bit the bottom of his lip. "You never told me this before. I think I would have joined in on the research."

"You hate research." Izzy reminded his childhood friend.

"Yes but I would had listen to the ghost tales. All those camping trips and you never once told any of them."

"Well we didn't want anyone to think we were weirder then everyone already thought…"

"I never thought that about you two."

"And plus they scared the hell out of us." Izzy sighed.

"So what kind of story does my new home have?" Tai asked.

"A tangled love story about young love and murder. A woman with flaming colour hair that was promised into wedlock since childhood. She is descried as enchanting and elegant. She became an orphan due to an illness and her aunt and uncle took her in. However, they were just called aunt and uncle but had no real blood relations to the child. Old family friends of her late parents, they felt the need to give her the proper care until she was old enough to be married. Instead, she had fallen in love with their son. A rogue at that time and it had been said that he had the most brilliant shade of blue eyes that caused women to swoon. Oddly enough, it seemed their son shared the same feelings for the young girl. By in those times, a promise was a promise even if it wasn't you who made the agreement."

Tai was at the edge of the seat, leaning towards his friend, "Yeah but get to the good part. How'd they die and what made them come back as spirits?"

"Story has it that the promised gentleman had the rogue murdered when the lady refused to marry him. Even after the death of her lover, she refused to keep her parents' promise in marring this man. Rumours had circled that she grew insane, claiming that her deceased lover still visited with her. Because he loved her so much, he refused to part from her completely. This drove her mad, not being able to be with him so she executed herself by jumping off the balcony. This had many people believing that they are finally together, living inside your home. Living a life they once knew before their deaths." Izzy explained. "Of course this is just a story, you understand."

"Wow. I'm going to live the coolest house!" Tai beamed. "Huge, already decorated and with ghost. Almost makes up for paying a fortune for it!"

"There is supposedly a graveyard in the back of your house. In that time, it was not uncommon to have family buried nearby the home. The locals say they are buried side by side with unmarked tombs. See even though it was love, it was very scandalous in those times."

"Well, that isn't cool." Tai shook his head. "I wanted backyard camping trips. Can't sleep on graves."

"Err..well no."

"And if Mimi will find out about the graves and she'll conquer up this whole "I see dead people" idea. She'll be afraid to go to the toilet by herself!"

"I'm sure…"

"We can't let her know!" Tai shook his head. "Do not ever tell her this story. You better make Joe know of this as well."

"Well it is only a story, Tai."

"I don't care. This could turn out to be the best house ever and she'll want to move because some dead guy is checking her out while she's soaking in the tub or something." Tai shook his head, "Can you imagine living with ghost?"

"What part of 'just a story', aren't you getting?" Izzy scratched his head.


	2. Chapter 2

I rushed this story. I should had thought it through before I pasted the first chapter. Because of that, it has been difficult to write. The hard part is finding a right story for Matt and Sora. As you will read, Mimi tells of a different view from what Tai spoke of. This is because stories tend to grow with time and things are rearranged to fit a persons' tale. So the storeies of Mimi and Tai are to be different, it is not an error.

Also I am having a hard time brining Sora and Matt into the story. Do I do it as ghost? Do I do as imagination running wild? Do I do it was clues and flash backs? The story is there and I almost can grasp it. I will be bring Tk into the story and hopefully he will guide me there (get it, guaridan of hope). So sadly I have to say for those who do enjoy this story, you will have to endure with small chapters and not so quick updates. I like this story and I want it. Just hang in there.

* * *

Mimi sighed and leaned over the sink in the kitchen to view her garden. The breeze had the fragrance of roses and honey suckles. She had been thrilled to find that the garden grew various types of herbs and although Tai would not know what kind, she was very excited to tell him about her find.

"I cannot believe anyone would move out of this house." Kari munched on some potato chips that Tai had left open on the table. "It's gorgeous and even though you paid a lot on it, it really isn't as expensive as it could be."

"There was a discount." Mimi giggled, "I love bargains."

"How was your first night?" Kari asked her sister-in-law, but quickly held up one and placed another hand over her eyes when she saw that adoring look on Mimi's face. "Never mind. Do not want to know. Bad images leave my mind!"

"Well what do you expect?" Mimi smiled remembering her night. She slowly moved from the sink to the table where she took the empty seat beside Kari. "You need to spend the night. You will love this house."

"It does look beautiful but…" Kari ran her hands up and down her arm. "Its kind of spooky too, I would hate to see it at night."

"Spooky!" Mimi laughed. "I don't find it spooky at all."

"Not the slightest?"

"Well…" Mimi leaned back in her chair to make sure Tai was not near the kitchen's entrance. "I have heard stories about this place being haunted."

"Haunted!" Kari's eyes grew. "And you still bought it!"

"That's why there was a discount. Four other couples have moved in here and left quickly claiming ghost. It intriguing me even more. Oh, but do not tell Tai. He will totally flip out. Anytime something needs fix I know he would blame it one spooks."

"Yeah but knowing that your home is like, ghost infested or something…." Kari shook her head in disbelief.

"At times it does get eerie but it really isn't bad. I think most of it is in the mind. Between you and me, I find it harder to go into certain rooms. I'm not saying I feel any special effects but sometimes the air feels different."

"Colder?"

"No. Not like on television where suddenly you see your breath but it feels different. I can't explain it."

"Scary different are okay different."

"No." Mimi shook her head. "It is really hard to explain."

Kari nodded her head and edge closer, "What kind of tales are you talking about?"

"Well there have been different stories about this place but I'll tell you my favourite. What I have been told by some local history geeks, which by the way love them. They are so adororable I think you may even…"

"Mimi." Kari groaned.

"Right. Well supposedly, it all started with a girl found in the woods. The town folks claimed her to be of gypsy's blood and cursed, because of the red hair. They said that even the gypsies did not want her and they took anything."

"So an elderly lady stood up and declared that she would look after the child, stating that no gypsies ever had red hair. She called the girl Sora and raised her to be a servant for upper class folks teaching her how to sew, milk, laundry, and bake. She also taught the girl how to read and write, which many people were unaware the old lady even knew how to do such a rare skill, well for that time and her class it was consider rare."

"Skip that and go to the good part. What happen to them?" Kari asked.

"Sometimes you really remind me of your brother." Mimi blinked at the younger girl. "The boy living here fell in love with her and Sora returned his affection. As they grew so did their love for each other. Sadly, at that time, someone of upper class did not marry the house cleaner. So once of age, Matt married another woman but secretly he and Sora were still involved, intimacy involved. The wife, Isabella caught on that he was having an affair and paid a man to kill Sora."

"Isabella confronted Matt, they had a heated argument and she let it slip that she planned on having Sora shot. Matt hurried to Sora's side, Isabella ran after him begging him to stay with her. Matt tried to get the girl to safety but when the shot rang out, instead of Sora falling, it was Matt. You see, Matt walked into the target of the gun, unknowingly and took the bullet that was for her. The gunman panicked when he saw the wrong victim fall. He knew Isabella would scheme up a story of how he shot her husband so the gunman also shot Isabella and in order not to leave any witness…"

"He shot Sora too."

"Yea. Matt and Isabella are supposedly buried together, side by side and somewhere out there is Sora's grave. Since she was ranking in lower class, she is not buried with Matt's family. To this day, Sora and Matt continue to search each other out. It should have been Sora buried beside him."

"That's so sad." Kari frowned.

Mimi nodded her head in agreement. "A graveyard of the family in the distant of our land but I haven't been able to find Matt's marker or Isabella's for that matter."

"You went looking." Kari was shocked. "Wasn't it scary?"

"A little but I wanted to know if there was any truth to the story. However, while looking through the garden, I did find something. Between the roses and the honey suckles is an old oak tree. High on the tree's trunk are the names Matt and Sora, circled within a heart." Mimi blinked.

"Wow." Kari's eyes grew. "So you know that they did at least live here."

"Yep." Mimi smiled and looked around her kitchen. "I'm going to love living here too."


	3. Chapter 3

"I can't believe we have a piano!" Tai eagerly took the piano bench and hit a random key. "Maybe we should learn to play."

"I am able to play the flute." Mimi smiled, "Having some music background, perhaps I could pick up piano lessons."

Tai wrinkled his nose; he knew she played the flute. He was also aware of the horrible sound that came from that small instrument when she did play. With each breath she took, he had this horrific image of frogs on a hot paved highway trying to leap to cool ground. All along side of the imaginary highway were French cooks with overly large spatula ready to race to the nearest frog to flip him over. Poor frogs. Tai made a silent oath to talk Mimi out of piano lessons or get professional help soon after she started. "Um…sure. If you really want too. We could just leave it for show though."

"Oh that reminds me. Izzy called for you today. He wanted to know if he and Joe could come around and look over the place."

"I'll call them back. It seemed they are really taken to old places." Tai smirked. Haunted places, he thought. "So how was your first day alone?"

"It was okay. Kari stopped in to keep me company for awhile and Mother purchased some items she thought we could use and dropped them off as well." Mimi placed herself on an over packed love seat.

Tai nodded, "But nothing else happen. Nothing weird?"

"Weird?" Mimi picked up a book she had been reading earlier in the day. "Weird like how?"

"I don't know. You know how these old homes creak and shift. Sometimes the lights flicker and some area are are colder then another part of the house."

"Nothing I've noticed." Mimi shook her head.

Tai frowned; he was hoping Mimi would have called him from work about some kind of mishap such as a picture falling off the wall or doors slamming. He pressed a few keys on what he thought sounded like Mary's little lamb but catching Mimi's reaction from the corner of his eye, he assumed it sounded much stranger.

"That's horrible Tai." Mimi stated the obvious and he gave her a cheerful smile. It was the truth and he felt no justification in trying to cause an argument or throwing back that her attempt at music should be banned, especially since she took five years of lessons.

Tai was about to press another key when he felt the hair on the back of his neck raise.

"Tai?" Mimi glanced up from her reading material.

Tai felt his shoulder turning cold before he felt intense pressure and he fell off the bench. The case covering the piano's keys dropped shut with a loud bang and he heard a clicking sound as though it had locked.

"Tai?" Mimi raced over to him where he sat on the floor staring at the piano, rubbing his shoulder.

"I slipped; you know how I lean back on chairs." Tai laughed and pushed himself off the floor easily and up righted the bench.

"What's that?" Mimi watched a small piece of paper flutter to the floor.

Tai scooped it up and flipped it over to see a picture of a young girl. The picture had no colour and with time, it had begun to crack and peel to almost indistinguishable. Tai watched Mimi gently pick up a folded piece of paper. "I don't know." Tai glanced at his wife then at the bench it was hidden under.

"This is a letter," Mimi held the paper so tenderly and with great care.

Tai peered over her shoulder to read from the piece of paper.

_**Matt:**_

_**I know I do not need to write a post to you, my dearest husband yet while you found yourself at the steps of your childhood home, I felt the sudden urge to send a letter.**_

_**Please once again let your family know that they are in my thoughts as your father makes his recovery from his illness. I hope all is well. **_

_**Our home is silent with out the sound of the piano that wakens our hearts. Y**__**û**__**ta misses you greatly. The other day he found a turtle and tried to hide it under his bed. When you arrive home, perhaps we should discuss the issue of a pet. He is looking forward to his own pony. Maybe it is a good time. He has been doing well in his studies and has been honouring his scholar with pride. **_

_**I miss you so dearly. I yearn to hear you laugh, to see your smile. I long for the moment we can spend together. You may not be here with me at the now but the thoughts of you are always in my heart. You are the first thing I think of in the morning and the last thing at night. My favourite place to be is being held in your arms where it is warm and where I am so tenderly loved. I love loving you with everything I am, and more than I ever thought possible. The life you have given me is a beautiful dream come true. You have become my knight, my prince, my king. I am yours and you are mine, forever and always. I want to die loving you. I want you to be the last man I ever kiss, that I ever love. **_

_**Your loving wife, **_

_**Sora**_

Mimi sighed, "This is so lovely! Why don't you write me things like this?"

* * *

Mimi silently cursed once more as she sat on with her legs tucked under her and surveyed the garden. It was a currently had been over taken by many odd wild plants that should not be in such a garden. Tai had tried to find a gardener for her, placing ads in the paper and spreading the word through friends and co-workers sadly however, their home site had too many stories, too many ghost tales for anyone to want to work at their home. Thus, Mimi found herself doing the labour. She stretched her arms high above her head trying to loosing the aching spots that had settled in her muscles as she worked through the garden, pulling out anything that may look like a weed. It was then that she heard the odd broken up whistle. It took a while for her identify the sound and when she did, she stood up quickly looking around.

"Hello?" Mimi brushed her gloved hands together to knock off the loose dirt. "Hello?"

She started down the path leading to the shallow pound that, in her and Tai's earlier discovery, held golden hued fish. She froze a moment at seeing a small child about five or six lying on his stomach watching in delight as the fish swam to the surface with a watery hiccup sound.

"Hi." Mimi slowly walked up the child, "They are lovely aren't they?"

The boy looked up to her, his face breaking into a wide grin and giggled as another fish broke the surface.

"We must be neighbours." Mimi continued to speak to the child. "Where do you live?"

Still the child did not speak to her.

"Ah, your parents taught you not to speak to strangers, huh? Well good for you!" Mimi knelt down near the child, but kept her distant so not to alarm the small boy. "Do your parents know you are here? You are very young to be on your own. Where is your home?"

The boy stood up, blinking at Mimi curiously before slowly walking away, his broken whistle once again filled the day's air.

"Where are you going?" Mimi stood up to follow him. She suddenly felt the child was her responsibility and once she found out whom this child belong to, she would be given the parents a good lecture. To have a small child run wild, did they not know the risk they place their beautiful child in!

The boy froze on top of the small wooden bridge that stood between the house and the thick wooded area. Some where along the way he had picked up a daisy and started to pull off the petals, tossing one pedal at a time into the pound below him. Mimi could see his large sapphire orbs watching her carefully by the corner of his eyes. With out warning, the small child's curly blonde hair popped straight up and he let out a loud laughed and race towards the wooded area.

"No, honey don't go in there!" Mimi started after him on the tangled path of long ago. "You will get lo…" Mimi froze as she saw a tall blonde man scoop the child in his arms and given him a huge hug. The man, sharing the child's resemblance almost to perfection, glanced at her for a brief moment before lifting the child on top of his shoulders. The child again giggled as he reached high in the sky before resting his hands on his small knee as the man held him steady by placing his own hands around the child's legs.

"Oh, hello." Mimi waved at him. "Um…we just moved in and your son was in our garden. I was worried, I thought that…." The man turned away. "Hey, I'm talking to you." Mimi raced up to him and reached out to pull on his arm to have him face around. Instead, she gasped air as her hand went through his arm and he suddenly turned around and a rush of cold air swept through her as he and the boy dissolved.

Mimi stood there for a moment, trying to apprehend what had just happen. The man and chid just passed through her body and disappeared, the chill of their existence linger around her and the dying sound of the child's laughter echoed in a distance. Mimi turned and ran out of the woods, down the rugged path, over the creaking bridge, pass the rose bush she had been working on, through the back door where she slammed the door shut and locked it before closing her eyes and finally catching her breath.

* * *

Izzy walked into the great entrance hall. "Wow this is quite outstanding."

"Thanks." Tai smiled brightly.

"How much are you paying?" Joe asked.

"Let's put it this way, I most likely won't live to see the deed." Tai sighed, "Come on, this way. Listen I wanted to thank you guys for coming over."

"No problem. We were excited about entering your home." Joe walked behind Tai, Izzy behind him.

"When did this all start again?" Izzy asked glancing around the room Tai just entered. The area was large with over stuffed sofas, high back chairs, a chandlers on the ceiling and great many pictures hung on the walls.

"For me, it started two weeks ago and I wasn't concern but then it happened to Mimi and she was pretty shaken up by it." Tai put on hand on top of the piano while pointing at the bench with his other hand. "I was sitting there, just messing with the keys you know, when the key's cover lid slammed shut and locked."

"It locked?" Izzy frowned.

"Yeah. Those old locks are easy to pick so I was able to open it. At first I thought it was one of the ghosts…"

"You've seen them?" Izzy walked over to the bench.

"Well no, not at that time. That's what I was hoping for when the lid shut. That maybe I angered the ghost with my playing. I never took piano lessons so I was not offended. Then I thought I was just getting my hopes up, that maybe because it was old the lid just fell shut and the lock was loose. A few days after that incident had taken place; I picked the lock and started messing with it again while Mimi was in the room. She was sitting over on the sofa reading something and of course, I was at the piano. I felt as though someone was behind me, watching over my shoulder. I had that prickly goose-bump feeling, you know. Then I felt this coldness cover my left shoulder as someone laid a hand on me and I was pushed, hard, off the bench and the cover case slammed shut again."

"Did the temperature drop?" Joe asked, pushing up his glasses.

"I don't know, I'm not one to carry a temperature gage on my person. I cannot say I even felt threaten. Even when it happens. Maybe stunned. I honestly don't think the ghost likes my playing." Tai scratched his head. "When I was pulling myself up and up righted the bench, I found this letter under the seat and a picture." Tai handed over a yellow sheet of paper.

"Joe looks at this!" Izzy's eyes grew larger. "Look at the date. This letter is over one hundred years old!"

Joe whistled, "Wow, Tai this letter can be sold for hundreds. It appears to be a love letter. The picture though, I can't really make out."

"Yeah, Mimi thought it was beautiful. Check out the names. Written by Sora to Matt. That makes those ghost characters real, not just names." Tai looked over at the piano. "I'm guessing he was the musician and when he thought about her, he'd whip out that letter."

"Of course they were real once. Stories always start from real people, it just get stretched into a fairytale."

"You think he's the one haunting this room?" Joe asked.

"Yeah. In a way. I mean Mimi hired a pianist to teach her how to play and the same thing happen with them, except the pushing part. The cover slammed shut and locked. The difference with them was that the doors banged open and closed."

"An angry ghost?" Joe questioned.

"No. I don't think so." Izzy shook his head.

Tai nodded his head, "Be careful what you wish for. Why is it that I never follow good advice?"

"That's not all. We keep smelling flowers. Sweet flowers, not roses like in the movies…well like honey suckles. It does not matter what part of the room we go in, there is always that smell lingering. It is the strongest in the bath area, the bedroom, the music room and another room that the realtor said was the drawling room. Also, there are always fresh picked flowers on the table but we never place them there and we have not hired a housekeeper. Frankly, no one wants to work in here. The locals walk pass the house holding there fingers like crosses. And the fire place would start, even with out wood. If we move furniture around, the next day it would be exactly as it was before we moved them. And…" Tai looked wearily at the kitchen. "The refrigerator keeps opening and closing. I have replaced six light bulbs and food does not stay cold in there. I do not mind them here, but damn it they cannot be messing with my food! Then the other day, Mimi was at the garden while I was at work. She found a small child, a boy, near the pound practicing whistles. She tried to speak to him, not knowing then what she knows now, but the child refused to say anything. Then he took off from the pound to the edge of the woods where a man picked him up and carried him through Mimi. Just like the wind, Mimi said. That is the reason I begged you guys to come."

"They passed through her body?" Izzy's eyes were the size of saucers.

Joe stood, not saying a word even though his mouth opened and closed to try and form words.

"Well, follow me to the kitchen and Mimi can explain it all to you." Tai turned away and stared down the hall, one of many hallways Joe and Izzy would soon find out.

Later that night, Tai showed Izzy and Joe their rooms. As requested, he placed them next to each other and should them where he and Mimi slept. However, Joe and Izzy did not really plan to sleep much that night….

"What do you think of it all?" Joe asked his red headed friend.

"It's too early to tell. Kari told me that Mimi was excited about the story of this house as well and well…maybe some of the things they believe are happening but really aren't. They both wanted ghost to be real."

"Be careful on what you wish, eh?" Joe looked around the room he would be sleeping in. It was huge but quite comfortable. "You know, I think we should get a look at the structure of this place. Old homes like this usually had some kind clever room hidden."

"I hadn't thought about that." Izzy mumbled picking up a flashlight to make sure it would work before they left the room. "I know a person I can check in with about it."

"You know I was thinking of brining someone else into this, I mean if there is really anything to be concern about. What do you think?"

"Well let us see if there is anything to this story." Izzy opened the door into the hall. "Let's split up." Izzy took a step out into the hallway but Joe still stood inside the room. "Something wrong?"

"Well I've been thinking of movies lately."

"Movies?"

"Yeah and when ever the good guys split up something bad happen to them." Izzy could not see Joe's eyes because of his glasses but he knew they were darting back and forth, looking at each end of the hallway.

"Okay, then we'll stick together." Izzy rolled his eyes once his back was facing Joe's.

"Great idea." Joe muttered but followed Izzy. They walked down into the music room and creaked the door open. The piano stood alone in darkness. "Go on and play something."

"We don't want to wake up Tai and Mimi, remember." Izzy hissed. "I doubt Tai would hear anything but we might freak Mimi out."

"Oh." Joe turned away from the music room. "Hey Izzy…"

Izzy turned around to see Joe pointing to a row of lights that followed the hall on the first floor. All them were off except the first one. The first floor hallway had doors at each end to block off rooms to visitors. "That wasn't on when we came down, was it?" Izzy asked.

"No." Joe took a step to the light and tapped the glass gently. It flicked for a moment and then turned off however the one beside it clicked on.

"Interesting." Izzy whispered.

Joe looked at his friend before pushing his glasses further up on his nose and walking towards the other light. It too flicked off allowing the next light to shine.

"See a patteren?" Joe asked before taken a deep breath and slowly walking down the hall. "I'm guessing it wants us to go down the hall. Follow the lighted wall."

"Should we?" Izzy asked.

"I rather not." Joe gave a shake smile. "What about you? We could have a look in the morning."

"Um…let's turn around and get Tai." As Izzy agreed, the door behind them slammed shut and the little lock knob slowly turned and clicked.

Izzy grabbed the handle and wigged the door. "It won't open."

"Let me try to pick the lock. Tai said these things are really easy to pick open." Joe took out two paper clips and crouched down by the door. He slipped the two ends into the lock and struggled to find the hidden switches to open the door when a cold blast of cold air blew from the darken side of the hall, sweeping pass Izzy and forcing Joe back.

Joe fell over onto his backside and watched as the doorknob and lock suddenly develop a thick icy shield.

"This isn't good." Izzy whispered.

Joe quickly stood back up, scrambling for the flashlight that rolled from his hands.

All of the lights hanging low on the wall flickered once before remaining on, casting a soft glow at the end of the hall.

"I guess we have to go that way." Joe swallowed nervously.

"I wish we brought something." Izzy took a step beside Joe and slowly, together, they made their way down to the end of the hall.

"Like what? We're not ghost busters." Joe mumbled.

"I was thinking more like Sam and Dean. We could have packed rock salted guns or something." Izzy smiled but it quickly slid off his face when Joe stared down at him, clearly not amused.

"Izzy, do you smell that?" Joe whispered as he kept his eyes glued on the door they were slowly advancing onward.

"Flowers, just like Tai had mentioned." Izzy whispered back. "It's kind of…it feels…"

"Comforting?" Joe whispered back.

"Soothing." Izzy agreed.

On reaching the other door, Joe slowly touched the knob before quickly pulling back. "Just checking. It feels alright." Joe opened the door and gently pushed it open causing the hinges to creek. "Another hall? Why does this place have so many corridors?"

They slowly stepped into the smaller hall with four doors facing them. The last door was one that drew their attention.

"Joe look." Izzy pointed to the drawling room. It was the only room in that hall that did not have its door closed.

"I wish we stayed in our rooms." Joe confessed.

Slowly the boys walked into the room, their flashlight beams shook nervously was they pointed around the room.

"I don't get it. Nothing's here." Joe turned around, this whole room was empty. There was no pictures, no furniture, not even curtains on the wall.

"Smell that?" Izzy asked. "It's the same smell from the hall but its stronger now."

"It wanted us here but why?" Joe asked.

"I don't know." Izzy stayed close to Joe's back. "I thought this room would be bigger. It hasn't even been decorated."

* * *

Tk glanced over the blue print, which he had placed in front of Izzy, "I don't see any hidden staircases or secret subdivisions. I often have people come in here saying that they found hidden staircases, bedrooms, closets. They like to believe that. In most cases, however, homes like the one your friend lives in; there are different sections of the house where it seems to be hidden from guest. These were merely the servant's corridors, rooms, and work place. At that time, you did not want people to see the person who dust or the house cleaner or the cook. They were to stay out of sight so stair cases were made for their use and they weren't fancy either."

"There." Izzy pointed to a large room on the west side of the home. "There is a small room opened from that room."

"It's labelled as a drawling room. Most likely, it was used as an entertainment room for women. While men smoked and spoke about politics, the women would place themselves in a different room. The large room was for gathering of a large group. The smaller room was used for a more personal suite, such as painting or sewing for the lady of the house."

"I was in this room, Tk." Izzy pointed to the large room. "There aren't any doors beside the one leading in and it's the last room in the hall. The place felt as it was to be bigger but this room isn't there."

"It could have been sealed off." Tk slowly spoke as he picked up an old book that he brought to the desk with the blue print. He started thumbing through the pages. "If there was a fire in the room and the cost was too great, they would have sealed it off."

"I was told this family had a great amount of wealth and influence."

"Maybe but then something that we see as a simple task was tremendous in that era. If the room was destroyed it would had taken months if not years to fix to its natural state. Just setting a beam would had been a task and if the homeowners felt they would not be able to enter the room, that perhaps it was too much to overcome, blocking it off may had been better for them. Out of sight is out of mind. Women in that time were made to be…weak. Fragile in health, strength and in mind."

"Can we reopen it?" Izzy asked.

Tk gently placed the books aside, not finding anything about a fire. "I would recommend it. Moisture could still seep into the room. It would be like a wound to a house that was not treated properly. And if the room has grown mold or wood rot, that would infect the joining rooms and spread through the house. It is important to treat the house and the place it started from or the owner would be facing problems in the future. It does strike me odd that he isn't experiencing them now."

"You have worked with old homes before; tell me have you ever experienced anything…strange?" Izzy asked.

"Define strange?" Tk grinned.

"Strange um…ghostly strange?"

"No." Tk leaned back in his chair. "I don't really believe in that nonsense either."

Izzy nodded his head. "If Tai does agree to open the room, would you lend your expertise? As a favour for a friend?"

Tk paused for a moment before slowly agreeing. "Of course I can only offer my service when I have free time from work."

"I understand." Izzy sighed and leaned into his chair. "What about the history of the family? Does your book tell you anything?"

"The book is mostly the history of the house, not the people that lived inside." Tk picked up the book carefully. This was his first book that his grandmother had given him after graduation. It set off his interested in older homes and the history and he had set forth in collect many other books in his area and nearby towns. This book however was a family book and he valued it mostly because it seemed difficult for his grandmother to part with yet she entrusted him with it.

"The original owners have a French background; you may find that a lot of your furniture, paintings was ported from England and France. Of course that's was the place to be in that time."

"Does it mention anyone by the name of Sora? Or maybe a Matt?" Izzy asked.

"This book came from several hands, from several families. Mathew was and still is a very common name. Sora however isn't." Tk flipped through his book. "In the year 1876 there was a wedding of Sora and Matt, of course then one didn't shorten a name."

"They were married?" Izzy's eyes widen.

"Yes. Apparently it was quite a wedding." Tk glanced over the pages. "Held in the ballroom of the house. They later had a child, a boy."

"The ballroom?" Izzy leaned forward. "I don't remember seeing a ballroom."

"It's the largest room of the house; I don't see how you missed it." Tk went back to the blue prints and pointed to the room.

"That's the piano room. The music room." Izzy said mostly to himself.

"Maybe but it was built to be a ballroom. A place to entertain the high class guest."

"Does it say how they died or how old they were? Anything at all that happen to them?" Izzy asked.

Tk continue to speed read through the pages carefully, "I don't see anything. Of course, to live to forty was consider old, remember. But no, I have no indications on what happen to the couple."

* * *

"Then the room filled with this intense smell of flowers." Joe explained to the curly blonde sitting across from him, slowly slipping her drink.

"Did you feel frighten?" She asked.

"In the hall we did." Joe explained, "even though the smell was with us then, it was freighting. Especially with the door freezing as it did. But when we entered the room…." Joe stared down at his own coffee. "I felt chills but not in a freighting way. I felt the need to understand, but I don't' know what I need to know. I felt this sadness and loneliness overwhelm me, wash over me. I felt that I had to do something so I came to you, Catherine. I thought as a friend you may read into it or…."

"Check the place out?" Catherine smiled at her long time friend. "How would the owners feel with a stranger under their roof."

"They won't mind. Tai and Mimi are the friendliest couple I have even known. They'd open their home to a rabid mountain lion if it would help." Joe tapped is fingertips on the shiny round table. "I need an explanation. We, Izzy and I, thought that it was Tai's imagination running wild. He wanted a haunting home. He is weird. Be careful for what you wish for was what he said to me when I left the next day."

"I don't think the spirit wants to hurt anyone. It would had done so by now or tried more forcible approach."

"It pushed Tai off the bench…"

"But not down the stairs."

"It freaked us out in the halls." Joe whispered, trying not to let other customers of the coffee shop hear.

"I think," Catherine, said slowly, "It's desperately wanted you two to follow it. It blocked off the only way out and did so, not to scare you but the only way it knew how. After all, you felt no fear once you were in the room. Plus it's always a little scary when something is forcing you to go where you don't want to go."

"Will you stop by?" Joe asked.

"Sure but I cannot promise anything." Catherine sighed.

"I've seen you work, Catherine. You are good." Joe reassured her.

* * *

"Wait." Tai looked at his friends. "You invited someone to put a hole in my wall and you invited a ghost whisper?"

"Not with out your permission and he said it would be in the best the interest. He's doing this as a favour for me, Tai so it won't cost anything." Izzy told him. "He also has a great deal on the history of the house. The former owners were French."

"The poor frogs…" Tai mumbled.

"And she's not a ghost whisper. She can sense things, stuff in the pass and sometimes maybe a spirit but she's not like you see on TV, she can't point and say there's the ghost."

"Tai?" Mimi looked over at her husband.

Tai looked over at her as they were having a silent discussing that they could only hear and perhaps that was true. They knew what the other was thinking, they knew with out asking. Its how they knew they belonged to each other. Soul mates Mimi told him.

"Okay. We'll give it shot." Tai agreed.

* * *

Tk glanced over at Izzy as he explained about Catherine's presence and Joe explained to Catherine about the sealed room.

"You actually believe this…nonsense?" Tk asked.

"If that night never happened, then I wouldn't be here now." Izzy told him. "Just try and tolerate us, okay? Humour us if you will."

The group followed Catherine in the house as she walked through rooms, sometimes pausing and sometimes nervously glancing over her shoulder. She walked with care or she would seat on a bed in silence. No one in the group questioned her.

She stopped at the piano, gently caressing the keys but not pushing down on them. "You said it started here?"

"Well, no. The flowers came first but I thought Mimi was doing it and she thought I was leaving them. We are still kind of honeymooners. The actually confronting was here for me but in the garden for Mimi was the first spotting of the ghosts." Tai explained.

"What do you think?" Joe asked.

"The house is very old." Catherine raised her head as Tk snorted. She dismissed him being used to no believers. "I believe more then two spirits resign here."

"Like how many?" Tai frowned. "It's not an infestation of ghost, is it?"

Catherine laughed gently, "Not as many. I feel a presence of an elderly aged woman, a servant that dedicated her whole life to this house. She loves this home and cannot endure to part from it."

The small group remain quiet.

"There is not dust, is there?" Catherine raised her eyebrows as she sat down at the piano.

"Well now that you mention it, no." Mimi's eyebrows grew together. "And the furniture is always exactly the same, not a pillow out of place. The curtains are drawn close at night but by morning, they are opened allowing sun to go come into the house."

"We have a house keeper who refuses to retire and it doesn't cost us a cent, I can live with that." Tai grinned.

"There is a man who sat here. Music was his first love and…he is quite possessive about his piano."

"He made his point very clear." Tai rubbed his backside.

Catherine looked at the window and shook her head. "I don't believe this spirit would ever try to harm you. I feel as though he was a quiet man. A very private man and in some ways you are invading his sanctuary. We all have a place where we need to get away from life and this, the piano, was his way of escaping."

"When you die, it's not yours anymore." Tai announced aloud.

Catherine stood up and slowly walked to the window into the garden.

"What is it?" Tai asked.

"I can't place it." Catherine shivered and smiled nervously at Tai.

* * *

Tai lead the small group through a few doors where they found themselves standing inside the large, spotless kitchen.

"I wish the housekeeper was a cook too." Tai mumbled and Mimi gave him a swat on the back of the head. "We haven't really felt anything in here, besides the flowers, until recently. Flowers are always on the table, a new arrangement every few days. Then there is the problem with the refrigerator, the light keeps going out. At first, we thought it was bad bulbs then a bad wiring but…."

The refrigerator door opened just slightly, and then slowly closed until the light went out before quickly opening up once more.

"….as you can see, that isn't the case." Tai folded his arms.

Tk stiffened as he felt a chill near him. Joe stopped breathing. Mimi gripped Tai's arm and Izzy started forward to investigate. Tai prevented Izzy from going by gently touching his shoulder and putting his finger to his lips. "Wait."

Then a childish squeal of delight echoed in the room and down the hall.

"Was that?" Izzy turned to Tai who nodded his head.

"This ghost child had been playing with the refrigerator." Tai grunted. "I think he's intrigued with lights. Lights are always going on and off in this house - just like a kid playing with light switches. I do not think this would be freighting to us if we knew why he was here. What is the story?"

In the distance, down the hall, the sound of a piano seeped out of the room they had just occupied. "At least he can play." Tai sighed and leaned against the sink, Mimi stood close to him with her arm still clutching his own.

"Have you gone in the room when the piano is going?" Izzy asked.

"After being shoved off the bench, no. I thought that maybe something bad would happen, you know. Not knowing its nature…" Tai shrugged.

"The child and the father are always together." Mimi spoke softly. "Once we hear the piano it isn't long before we hear the sound of the child or visa versa. This morning though…"

"Let's tell that story in the nursery." Tai picked up his wife's hand and once more lead the group to a different part of the house. "The nursery is connected to our room. Surprisingly, we have never experienced anything during the night."

"Tai wouldn't know even if we their had been some kind of ghostly event, he sleeps like the dead." Mimi gave an attempt at a humours smile, but her eyes were sad. "When I first walked into this room, I fell in love with it. Now I feel this uncontrollable sadness that washes over me."

The room was decorated for a child with walls covering fairy tale stories, butterflies, clouds, even a large beanstalk but nothing alarming such as wolves and goblins. The room still held the items of the pass from formers owners who showed the room as a museum more then a home. "We are going to change things once we have our own child. I'm sure some of this stuff wouldn't be able to tolerate any child of Tai's…"

"Hey…" Tai looked at his wife.

"And their maybe heath issues like lead paint or something." Mimi kept her eyes on the rocking chair. "This morning I heard the child cry and I couldn't help but look for him." Her eyes begin to feel with tears as she spoke. "I didn't want too, understand. I knew it was the ghost boy and his father would be near and that scared me but he was so sad so hurt and could not bare it. I had to find him."

"We were in the same room, down stairs watching some movie when she heard him, yet I didn't hear a sound." Tai explained.

"The cries lead me to the nursery. When I opened the door, I saw her. A woman in a black dress slowly rocking the child in her arms." Mimi looked straight at the rocking chair. "They both were weeping. His small hands were clutched around her neck loosely. I remember his small finger wrapping a strain of her red hair round his little finger. He kept weeping and she kept humming, patting his back. I felt sick suddenly. My stomach turned into a knot and I started gagging, I barely made it to the bathroom. That was the first time I saw her. It was the first time I saw the child with out seeing the father."

* * *

Tk tapped against the wall, his ear close to the cool surface as he listened for the echo. They had entered what was known as the drawling room. Tai had nubbed it the Ladies Entertainment Centre.

"Do you smell that?" Joe asked. "It's the same smell from the other night."

"Honey suckles." Mimi breathed softly. "We have a large patch growing at the edge of the garden but the smell is too strong and for this time of year to come from the garden and the blossoms is not even in bloom."

Tk glanced up, he too smelled the fragrance but was not about to acknowledge it. Besides, it may just be mind over matter having all this mojo brought up he may THINK he smells it.


	4. Chapter 4

His gloved fist thumped against the material in order to finish the last part of his work. White plaster iced his hair; dust clung to the sweat on his face almost in a sheer mask. The plaster and dusty particles found a resting place not only on the floor around him but on his clothing as well.

Tk lifted an arm to use his shirtsleeve to wipe at his brow. He looked over at the others, standing in a huddle, watching him. Tk turned back at the hole that he created and peered into the room that was now a vault. He quickly took a pen light from pocket of his jeans and beamed the light around the darken space in front of him.

"Well?" Joe asked.

Tk turned and gave them a shrug, unsure of what they expected. He slipped through the slender hole and quickly was yanked from their views.

"No! Please! Help!" Tk cried.

"Agghhh!" Mimi screamed and pulled on Tai's arm, her nails digging into his skin.

"Do something! Tk!" Kari screamed wrapping her arms around Izzy who clung back onto her.

"Tk!" Joe screamed, stuck in his spot.

Catherine crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

"Got you." Tk peeked around the corner with a grin on his face. "Ah, I do wish I could had seen your faces but I will have to enjoy the horror in your voices."

"A real jokers." Kari rolled her eyes.

"That wasn't the least bit funny, Tk!" Mimi scolded the blond. "It doesn't even deserve a smirk!"

"Ah it was kinda funny." Tk scratched the back of his head but the others continue to glare at him.

Tai gave a sigh and heaved up his own emergencies flashlight, boxier and larger then the pen light Tk wield before entering the room. One at a time, they slipped into the room, shinning light against each wall and floor of the room.

"Getting any physic vibes?" Tk quirked an eyebrow at the young blond girl.

Catherine ignored his comment and slowly, much carefully walked around the room.

Tk shined a light against a portrait of a small boy with blond hair that hung up on the wall. "Tai the paintings in here are worth a fortune. There not from famous masters but still they are remarkable, life like and…well old."

"He looks so alive." Tai looked up at the boy, noticing ever-vivid detail. The texture of the clothing, the ruby cheeks, the blond locks, the glitter of happiness in the child's eyes. It was all before them in a beautiful silver frame.

"That's the boy and man from the garden!" Mimi covered her mouth and pointed to the man holding the child.

As the boy, he was painted just as careful with just as much of detail. The fine laugh lines, the golden hair, the faint amused smirk that lifted the corner of his lip slightly and as Tai stood closer to the picture he could see the image of the child in the man's eyes.

"They are a beautiful family." Kari titled her head slightly to admire the picture.

"Hey, he looks like you!" Joe turned quickly around and pointed at Tk. "Seriously, you guys could be brothers."

Tk walked over to the picture and looked closer at the man holding the child on his lap, "We do look a lot alike."

"Here, look." Izzy carefully scooped up a book from the corner of the floor, parentally forgotten or unseen to the eyes of whoever hid the room in the first place. Carefully he flipped the fragile pages in order to not tear the thin piece of paper. "I think it's a journal or diary." Izzy talked as he skimmed the pages, "From the wife it looks like."

Catherine rested her chin near Izzy's neck to peer over his shoulder. "Most beautiful penmanship."

"Skip to the back and see if it gives us anymore detail." Tai urged, also finding a spot behind Izzy.

Izzy flipped to the back of the book to find blank pages. "She never finished it…" Izzy thought aloud as he went back a few pages to find the last entry with blurred watermarks over the ink.

He cleared his throat, **"Twenty-sixth of March, year eighteen twenty: **_**I have lost everything that I have once loved. Everything that I once was has been vanished from me. Even now my freedom, the last thing I could cherish has been taken away from me. I am forced to remarry, to a man that I could never love. I can love no one other. My heart has already been taken and I have no love to give. I do not want another life with another man; I do not want to bare his children or to even think of his touch. It sickens me, making my skin crawl of filth. **_

"_**I have no reason to live, yet I find myself waken to each morning and with a great numbness to company me as I go about my daily routine, which had diminish to very few task since my beloved husband had tear mark I cannot bring myself to even write the word to describe his departure. I can only say that I have no life to live, my love and my joy of living has simply died and left an unoccupied shell behind. The only joy I have is knowing that my son, our son, will forever be in his care, in his arms and be loved.**_

"_**I believe I go on because deep within my heart, I know he would have wanted me too. For a year, a day has not gone by with out finding time to wonder why I was left in this wake of hollow sadness. Never should a person bare the pain that I have lived to endure, no creature earn such pain."**_

Izzy looked flipped another page, "This is a new month, almost a year." He explained to the other as he noted the date on the left side of the page. "_**Fifteenth of Feberuary, year eighteen twenty-one. My time is limited and how odd it is that I find joy in knowing that James will end my torture in the darkness of despair that had haunted my barren world since my husband had departed. James stated many times over that I should be locked in a ward for my own safety to regain some of my saneness. Yet it is he that has murderess thoughts not so completely directed towards me but to others as well."**_

"_**He grows jealous of my safe heaven, my room where I withdraw from the world that has dared to continue to move on with out my family. It is here where I can reunite with them, to see them again, to touch them again if only in my paintings and my memories that I find to be fading much to quickly. It is in here where my paintings come alive and I am swallowed in the joy I once lived in. I can feel Matt's breath, his warmth and I feel safe. I can here Yuta's laughter as he plays with the wooden horse his uncle made him on his third birthday.**_

"_**Why is it so hard for this man that now dares to call himself my husband to understand that it was not I who had chosen to wed him, it was not I who promised to love nor to cherish him. I said my vows to the man I call my husband. James has no other love for me other then for the wealth that had been endowed to me by my late husband. I do not love him nor could I love any other man. I was forced upon him and he took me with out my consent. I have not found that time has changed my heart; instead I despise this man with more strength then the day before.**_

"_**I know at this very moment he is plotting my death but I shall not fear him as he approaches me with such a hideous plot. Unknowing, he will be the one that helps me find my way back to happiness and unfortunately it is through death that my happiness can be delivered. So I shall let him cave into his madness and his hatred and I shall let him take my last breath from my lungs for then only can my spirit be free to reunite with my child and my love."**_

Mimi wiped away her tears and Tai snaked his arm around her to draw her closer to him. "She was murdered by her second husband." Tai whispered, taken a moment to kiss the top of his own wives head.

"How awful." Kari frowned taken another look at the portures looking down at her. She took them in with a new light, feeling the meaning and the love that they had created for a person swallowed in depression in losing her family.

"I wonder how he killed her." Tk leaned against one of the walls.

"How did she lose her husband and son?" Izzy asked.

"And if she was so happy about dying, why is she still here? Why are they still here?" Joe asked.

"Why was this place sealed off?" Catherine looked at the darken space, the walls with hand painted faces and bodies, the boarded windows and the dust that covered them.

"Clearly something didn't go as plan." Tk mumbled looking up at the face that looked so much like his own.

"But the main question is why hasn't the maid been in here? Ghost can go through walls, right? So what's her excuse?" Tai fumed as he too noted the dusty windows.


	5. Chapter 5

Tai tapped his finger on the top of the marble tabletop, causally glancing at the refrigerator.

"_Communication. If we can make some kind of real communication with them…" _Catherine's voice echoed in his head.

"_They are dead." _Tai frowned as Tk's own voice interrupted Catherine, much as it did the day she spoken._ "You can't communicate with the dead."_

"You haven't seen what I have kid." Tai whispered aloud. His right hand slipped into his jacket pulling out a wooden horse. He had found it in the garden, near the pond which Mimi had seen the child play last. Finding the horse was all but a mistake as Tai tried to pull out some weeds near the pond's edge and Mimi complained how they needed a gardener. Of course they did. He knew that. The yard was simply too large for one person to keep up with but no one in their right minds wanted to work at a haunted house. That was not to say that no one applied for the job, jut not the people who looked or acted sane.

So on Saturday, with the bright sky above him, Tai found himself pulling weeds around the edge of the pond and ran across the craving of the horse. It was weather worn smooth, water logged and if it was ever painted, well that too had been worn from the tiny figurine of a horse.

Tai kept the toy in his pocket for a few days, unable to decided what to do with it when he happen to pass an antique shop. The owner of the shop was impressed and tried to purchase the horse from Tai but was unsuccessful. Even though the temptation was there for the transaction, Tai could not part with it. Instead he asked the owner of the shop if he happen to know of anyone who may be willing to repair the damage of toy. Someone who was able to make it more presentable. Good fortune struck Tai once again in that little shop, Mr. McKinley, the shop owner's silent business partner knew a thing or two about fixing up old toys.

So it was then that the undesirable looking wooden carving retrieved a most amazing make-over which transformed it back to its originally state, or what Mr. McKinley thought to be the original state.

"You know, I spent a long time fixing this up. Correction, I paid someone a lot of money for the long hours used to fix this up." Tai said aloud to the empty kitchen. "And I suppose I'd be quite offended if you didn't even show the tiniest bit of interest towards the darn thing."

Tai slowly slid the horse towards the other end of the table. "I suppose also that this is your horse. I found it near the pond and my wife, she's the one that you scared, thought you were looking for something. Well, this is it, isn't it?"

The room remain silent so Tai continued. "You can have it back, that is if you want it. All I ask is that you maybe leave the refrigerator alone, not to scare us so much and maybe if you are able help us figure out what it is that you and your parents want from us."

The room remain silent.

"Well I guess it is a lot to think about it. Especially from someone as small as yourself." Tai sighed heavily and quietly rose from the chair he sat on. "I'll leave the horse here and you can make up your mind if we have a deal or not."

Tai gave a sigh in defeat and slipped out the kitchen to find his wife. He was unaware of the horse slowly edging its way around the top of the kitchen table as unseen hands moved the horse into an imaginary trollop.

* * *

"She some kind of physic." Mimi said with her arms folded. She took a glance at Kari who stood next to her with sympathy eyes. "I believe her. She does not have the touch like most people, it is not as strong so she says but I trust her. I do not believe she is making it up. How can I, not when all this has happen. I thought living in a haunted house would be exciting, not exhausting. Things are getting worse. Doors are slamming shut. We hear the sound of breaking glass but never can find shattered pieces. This girl, her name is Catherine, said we are hearing echo's of the past. That something horrible had happen."

Kari took a deep breath and looked around the small painting room the former owner held so deep in her heart. As Mimi, she spoke aloud, hoping that this spirit would hear her as well. "We want to help you. We examined your diary. We just do not know how to help you. It is all these little riddles that we cannot seem to be able to put together. If you could just tell us how to help you this whole thing would be over."

Mimi gave a disappointed look when she turned to her sister-in-law who returned a small shrug. They turned and stepped out of the hole entrance which Tk had broken open two weeks ago.

"So there goes the communication." Mimi held out her hand in defeat.

"There you are." Tai poked his head through the door of the larger room. "How'd it go? Any ghostly visits?"

"None." Kari shook her head.

"How did you make out?" Mimi asked her husband.

"The same." Tai walked over to the window that over looked a large oak tree. "We just need to find out more information. Maybe some tombstones or gravesite lists…something."

"Good idea." Kari nodded her head. "There is an old graveyard just a few miles from here, maybe we can check it out."

"There is?" Tai turned quickly to look at his sister.

"Yeah. Pulling out of your drive way and making a left there is an old dirt road that veers on the left as well. You take that a few miles back. It looks unkempt but Tk said it was the oldest site around this town."

"You went with Tk?" Tai looked more interested.

"Well, yeah. He offered to take me home the day he was over here." Kari rolled her eyes when her brother gave her a particular look. "Tai I'm old enough to make my own decision and I do not need to inform you of them."

"You go gravesite with a person you don't even know." Tai remarked. "How many people take their date to a graveyard?"

"Joe and Izzy were there as well and for your information it wasn't a date. He took me home." Kari glared.

"Guys cool it." Mimi put a hand on her husband shoulder. "If Izzy and Joe were there then there isn't any reason to be concern. They love your sister AS their own sister. You know they would never let anything happen to anyone. They are the two most compassionate people I have ever been introduced too and couldn't live with that kind of guilt."

"I just find it odd that…" Tai started.

"That Tk is interested in history and happen to be along with two most intelligential guys we know? If he mentioned an old gravesite, I'm sure Joe and Izzy were all excited like boys in a toy store." Mimi continued walking out in the hall. "I mean…"

She was cut off by a quick slam against the wall.

"Mimi!" Tai shouted, racing towards his wife with Kari close behind. Before he could reach the hallway, the door slammed shut in his face and locked.

"Mimi!" Tai yelled again pulling at the door.

"Tai!" Mimi screamed and Tai heard another sound as she was slammed against the wall again.

"Mimi!" Kari yelled behind Tai who was now slamming his weight against the door.

"Tai, help!" Mimi screamed in pain.

"It sounds like she's being dragged!" Kari cried out and Tai slammed his body against the door harder.

"Get on your cell phone and call for help!" Tai order his sister as he went towards the window over looking the garden. Picking up a stool, Tai slammed the legs against the window causing breakage of glass to litter outside of the window.

"Let her go!" Kari yelled, struggling to find numbers in her cell phone. "We are calling for help!"

Tai ignored the glass that splintered into his hands as he pulled himself up and out of the window. He raced towards the door, relieved to find it was not locked, and through the house calling out to his wife to find her location.

He ran down the hall to the painting room and unlocked his sister from her prison.

"Where is she?" Kari asked as Tai rushed down the hall.

"Mimi!" Tai yelled out, Kari echoing his words.

They found her not far from the painting room. She was in a sitting position with her back leaning against the wall and her neck titled in an unconscious state. She was not alone either, not with the figure of the blond ghost kneeling at her side.

"Get away from my wife!" Tai growled charging at the ghost who turned to mist and disappeared. "Mimi." Tai whispered as he knelt down. "Wake up baby." Tai smoothed her hair not sure, if he should move her. "Come on, wake up."

"Is she okay?" Kari frowned at the red welts appearing on the pale face of her sister-in-law.

"If that bastard wasn't already dead, I'd kill him." Tai scooped Mimi up in his arms and carried her to a room on the ground floor that held a daybed. He wanted her on the first level in case they had to leave the house quickly.

* * *

Izzy and Joe appeared twenty minutes later and Kari briefed them what had just happen. Thirty minutes after their arrival, Catherine and Tk showed up together, which would play on Kari's mind once the she found her sister-in-law to be safe.

Joe started searching for the minor injuries after he had checked her possible major damage. Relieved in not finding anything more serious then a knot on the back of the head, he turned to dig out broken glass from Tai's hand.

Mimi, bruised and sore, woken familiar faces of her friends. She carefully pulled herself up to a sitting position with Tai's tender help. Joe placed an ice bag to the back of her head.

Catherine glanced around the room, fighting off the chill.

"What happen?" Izzy pulled a chair up to the daybed.

"I don't remember much." Mimi rubbed the back of her head. "Cold finger like hands grabbed me by my throat." Mimi rubbed her throat and Tai did not fail to notice the dark red marks that still showed. "Kept banging me up against the wall, pulling my hair and…biting me."

"Biting you?" Joe frowned.

"My arm." Mimi carefully held up her right arm and watch Joe push the sleeve up gently to expose a welt mark of crooked teeth.

"You're getting out of here." Tai jumped up.

"But what about you?" Mimi's eyes grew with concern.

"I'm going to find away to destroy this …thing and then we are selling the place. I don't care how much we go in debt. This was a mistake. We should have listened to the warnings!" Tai hissed. "I was so stupid."

"No you weren't. I knew too and I wanted…" Mimi started.

"Look at you! Look what he did to you!" Tai shook his head. "I can't let this happen to you or anyone else."

"There is no way 'He' could have done this." Tk stood up and gave a nervous glance at Catherine.

"Look at her!" Tai pointed at his wife. "We saw him near her!"

"Tai's right." Kari nodded her head. "This started out as a spooky ghost tour but now it's become dangerous. What would have happen if she were alone? Or anyone at that?"

"What Tk is saying is that Matt didn't do this, did he?" Catherine looked over at Mimi.

"Someone did." Mimi looked back. "I didn't do this myself! I was dragged by my hair."

"Oh no honey!" Catherine knelt beside Mimi. "I didn't mean to suggest that you did this."

"I spoke to my grandmother." Tk cleared his throat nervously. "The fact that this guy looked so much like me plagued me. I found out that I am related to him. He's a grand uncle far down in my family tree."

"And every family tree has a fallen apple somewhere." Tai remarked.

"No." Tai shook his head. "This guy loved his wife, Tai. My grandmother told me the story like it was a fairy tale. They were happy."

"He's right." Catherine sighed, "And Tai is also correct. We need to get Mimi out of her for her own safety."

"Everyone out of here." Tai corrected her.

"If you feel better then, yes. But Mimi is now the mistress of the house, not your sister not even me. I believe the person who did this to your wife was the second husband." Catherine stated. "Look at her diary, Tai. She felt threaten. She feared him. Now I fear that she also was beaten by him."

"You never said the second husband was in the home." Kari frowned at the thought.

"I told you my so called 'gift' isn't as strong as some. I can feel his presents now. I don't know if he was at a distance or if he became disturbed when we put a hole in the wall to reveal Sora's memories. I just know that the house is colder and..."

"I think she's right." Mimi whispered.

"We saw him…" Tai started.

"He helped me." Mimi held a hand to her forehead. "I remember now, it's a little foggy yet but Matt did help me, Tai. He interfered on what was happening."

Mimi peered up to her husband as she rubbed her throat. "He helped me. Matt protected me from the other man. I couldn't see this...man but I knew it was a man and his touch was so cold. He wanted me dead. I don't think he knew who I was…maybe he thought I was her."

"What the hell do they want?" Tai glared at anyone who dared to make eye contact. "Why does everything have to be a bloody mystery and how do I get rid of them. I want them all gone. All of them...well maybe not the maid but if she acts up, she's out of here."


	6. Chapter 6

"I spoke with my grandparents about the history of the family and the uncanny close resemblance." Tk explained to the group, which had moved into a little room filled with nothing other then the chairs they sat upon. "And I found that Matt Ishida would have been a granduncle of mine, of course far down the family tree line."

"That's so cool." Tai grinned, "I can sue your family for haunting my house."

"No you can't, Tai." Izzy shook his head.

"Why not?" Tai frowned.

"The court will find you insane and I'll have to testify that they are probably right." Joe interrupted, "Go on Tk."

"Okay to make a long story a little shorter, he died of an illness, tuberculosis to be exact. It was common and highly contagious." Tk stretched out his legs, crosses them at the ankles. "His son actually started showing signs of the sickness first. The coughing, spitting up blood and such. The doctors could not do any more then they already were and the family had many doctors examine their child. Grandpa, it is his side Matt is related too, said he had heard the story as it was passed down. Matt grew somewhat depress, understandable, and lost all hope in saving his child as the illness processed. He felt helpless not knowing how to save his son. To Matt, he was watching his only child die slowly, every breath was a struggle for the child and I guess Matt started to wonder when the last breath would catch up to the small boy. Sora on the other hand was either in denial or she had a little more hope in her son's recovery then Matt did. She truly believed Yuta would pull through. It was soon after all the doctors stop their visits that Matt started showing signs of being ill as well. His illness grew much more rapidly then his son's, Grandpa believed it was because Matt picked death over living with out his son. Considering that, Matt may have not fought off the illness as he could had done, perhaps he even welcome the knowledge of his death. Cheating the pain of losing his son by allowing the tuberculosis to engulf his immune system."

"He had Sora." Mimi huffed.

"I guess he loved his son a little more then his wife." Tk grinned sadly, "My mother would save my life before my father's own life."

"Yeah but she hates your dad." Tai reminded the blond. "But yeah, when we have our half dozen kids, they'll be my first concern as well."

Mimi glared at her husband, "Unless we adopt, we are not having six children."

"Well anyways, Matt died before Yuta but his son only lived three days after Matt passed away." Tk explained, trying to keep everyone on the same track. "The records I found said they were buried side by side at the cemetery behind the house."

"What behind the house!" Mimi's eyes grew in alarm.

"Not directly behind the house," Tk hurried. "There is a cemetery down the road from here…"

"The one you told us about?" Tai looked at his sister.

"Yeah." Kari perked up at her brother's attention, "The road circle about so much but basically it's only a couple of miles behind the house. There is even a path leading to it just a little beyond the pond."

"Sora must have made a trail when visiting her family. After awhile it became nature's pathway for different kinds of animals or maybe visitors. How sad. She lost her whole family in less then a week." Catherine heart ached with pity.

"Like ghost?" Tai's eyebrows shot up.

"Well maybe not them but people who show some kind of interest of the past such as I do." Tk looked down at his shoes as the group took a moment to let the information sink in.

"What about Sora? Could you find any information on her after Matt's death?" Catherine asked the lanky boy.

"The Ishida family kept close contact with Sora for a little while. They were worried about her and it sounds as she did go into a deep depression. I cannot see how anyone could not. She withdrew from the world and refused to see visitors for several months unless they forced their way into her home. Matt's brother, a great grand daddy of mine, felt somewhat responsible for Sora. He and his wife tried to help her over come her depression but the more they pushed the more she ran from them. It was Sora's side that believed she needed a husband before she was unapproachable. Her family was going to comment her if she had not agreed to marry. That put even more stress on Sora. She of course did not want to remarry but she also could not stand the thought of leaving her home. It wasn't the house itself but the memories that she wasn't willing to give up."

"She picked memories over her freedom?" Kari shook her head.

"It's not always that easy to simply walk away from a place that gave you so much love." Catherine explained. "It sounds as though Sora become a reclusive, only venturing outdoors to visit where her son and husband rested. The poor dear."

"So what's with the haunting?" Tai asked.

"I think the deaths of Matt and Yuta would explain why they are always together when spotted." Joe explained. "They practically died together and if Matt couldn't live with out his son, I doubt he could do so even after death."

"I believe Sora was indeed killed by her second husband. A violent death no doubt is a reason to haunt a place. Trying to tell the unjustly death to the living." Izzy added to the speculation.

"How do we stop it?" Mimi asked.

Catherine stood up. "I have been doing some of my own research with my grandmother. It seems there are many different ways that spirits can haunt a home. One is the way Sora is doing so. We never truly see her, do we? The one time while she was on the rocking chair with her son was more like an echo of an image of the past. Like time was rewind and frozen for us to visually see the last moments she spent with Yuta. Other then that we only know of her presence through the fragrance and doors opening and closing. It's as though she cannot show herself."

"If she was murdered her body would had been hidden." Izzy nodded. "Maybe the fragrance we smell is more like a clue where she is currently located."

"Honeysuckle vines run through out the property," Tai scratched his head. "Digging up ever vine bush would take months if not years."

"The second husband is who I believe to be the violent spirit." Catherine sat back down and looked at Mimi. "I think he is the one that attacked you. The way it sounds by reading the memoir, he has always had a violent nature. He does not want us snooping through what he so carefully hid and I would bet that we will be seeing more of him now that we know more about the life Sora lived while married to him."

"He's dead, what does it matter now?" Tai asked.

"Matters to him." Catherine shrugged, "To some people, appearance is everything and having one person know about a merciless secret such as the one he kept is enough for them to act irrational. As I spoke with my grandmother about this situation, she gave me an idea that maybe his spirit was always inside the house but more or less sleeping until something trigged him out of his slumber."

"When we open the room and found Sora's diary." Kari was thinking aloud, "we disrupted him."

"Right. That was my conclusion as well." Catherine nodded her head.

"Then why not go after Tk? He opened the room plus he looks like her first husband?" Tai frowned. "Why Mimi?"

"I think mostly it's because she's a woman. Men like him are cowards and they look for the weaker individual to target. Sora was weak because of her ordeal with loosing her family. Mimi because of her emotional stress that she has been under. And if you had to pick a fight with someone, would it be Mimi or Tk?"

"And Matt and his son?" Joe asked.

"I think Matt is trying to reach out to his wife. It is as though they are merely a shadow away from each other. He senses her near but he cannot find her. His music…"

"He hopes will lull her to him." Mimi smiled, "That's so romantic. Tai you better be that romantic when your dead or I'll kill you!"

"I think that is his reasoning, as well as his son's laughter. When I am walking in the park and I hear a child laugh with so much delight as our spirit child does, I will try to find the source just to see that natural glow. Maybe they do it to show Sora how happy they are and what she is missing by lingering behind. Think of it as Sora lost in a darken tunnel and Matt is casting a light to the entrance of the tunnel so she could find her way out. Sora however is not looking in the right direction. So we will need to turn her around." Catherine sighed. "It is rather all complicated. But we know we can make contact with them. The boy has proven that. Even though his father chose to ignore us, the child is showing some interest to who we are."

"He's ignore us?" Tai frowned.

"To him, we are more like little flies that seem to fluttering up his vision. His son is most curious and I think we may be able to communicate with him a little more then with the adults." Catherine explained.

"What about the maid?" Izzy asked. "What's her story?"

Catherine shrugged; the house cleaner will continue to be a mystery. She had not placed her in the story yet.

"Who's Isabella then? All the locals had a woman named Isabella in the story." Joe frowned, "Too many people as a matter of fact."

"Maybe it's the maid." Tai slipped a hand up at the base of Mimi's neck and gently tangled his hands through her hair. "Or maybe she was invented by a local residence to add more drama and it spun on from that point."

"An idea." Tk nodded, "Most of the time, stories are added too as Tai said to give a little more understanding of what happen or to add a little more height to a boring tale. Then again, if this second husband wasn't receiving any kind of intimacy from Sora or if he didn't feel like using force, wouldn't it be possible for him to have a…."

"Mistress on the side!" Kari's eyes lit up. "In all those romance books, the evil guy usually has a mistress he is sleeping with behind his wife's back!"

"And that's the maid!" Tai snapped his fingers.

"We don't know that for sure." Mimi patted Tai's thigh. "She may simple had passed away in her sleep but continue working as if she never died at all."

"I hope that's the case. I am starting to feel somewhat attached to this unseen spirit. She folds my all my clothes." Tai cast a stare down at the floor, "I'd sure hate to get rid of her."

Mimi rolled her eyes.

"Now that we have some idea of what happen, what's our next step?" Tk looked over at Catherine. "Where do we go from here?"

"And is it going to hurt?" Tai frowned and turned to Mimi, "Maybe you should stay at Kari's apartment until we clear this up."

"If it's okay with Kari, I would like that." Mimi looked over at her sister-in-law.

"Oh um…" Kari took a quick glance at Tk.

"Why are you looking at him?" red flags trigged Tai to sit straighter in his chair.

"Did I?" Kari slowly bushed, "I hadn't realised…."

"You're blushing." Tai looked over at Tk, "If I found out that you are messing with my baby sister I'll…"

"Tai she's a grown woman." Mimi rolled her eyes. "If it's an inconvenience for you, Kari."

"NO!" Kari shook her head, "It isn't. I would love to have you stay and I would feel much better knowing you were okay. But what about you Tai? What if it starts on you?"

"Don't try to change the subject." Tai glared at his sister who merely rolled her eyes.

"Hey let us keep this on the subject at hand." Joe eyed the group. "We know we have a serious situation which needs to be dealt with before anyone lands in the hospital."

"Your right." Catherine agreed. "I think our next step is reaching out to the child. Maybe he could help us."

"I tried to reach out to him." Tai shook his head. "But nothing happen."

"That's not true." Mimi looked squeezed her husband's hand. "Remember the toy went missing and the refrigerator doesn't open by itself any more."

"Some kind of connect was made then?" Catherine eyes sparkled. "That's great news."

"Why didn't you tell us about it before?" Joe asked.

"Because too many other things were happening and I didn't think it was such a big deal." Tai explained.

"What if Matt doesn't want us speaking to the boy?" Izzy asked. "He seems some what protective and even though he may see us as nothing more then objects of annoyance…"

"Which I resent." Tai declared.

"… he did acknowledge our attendance," Izzy continued. "When he chosen to intervene with the perilous incident fallen upon Mimi."

"But he hasn't showed any signs of aggression." Catherine reminded the red head.

"He almost slammed the piano case on my fingers." Tai added.

"Yeah but you play awful." Joe swatted the idea away.

"Tk practically said this guy chose death over not living with out his son." Tai went on, "He has no reason to feel aggressive but once our interest in his son comes to play, he may not feel the same way about us."

"I have to agree with Tai." Izzy nodded his head, "I think we should be alert to any sudden change in his behaviour."

"Agree." Catherine nodded her head, even though she did not feel a reason to be on alert. "So let's meet back here on Saturday to start the first stage."

"Is this going to involve crystal balls and smoke?" Tai asked. "I have a lot of fire alarms and…"

"No Tai." Catherine shook her head. "I'll have my grandmother sit with us and she'll be in control of the communication."

"This sounds scary." Joe whispered.

"I know. It's kind of cool, isn't it?" Tai beamed.

Excitement, shivers, hesitation and fear could describe how the group felt as they huddled around a small-circled table as they waited for Catherine and her grandmother to appear. As a prior request, Tai brought the small wooden, circler table to the music room. It was ideal spot since they knew the father haunted this room more then any other room in the home and where daddy was the son would not be too far away. Catherine had made several telephone calls with Tai through out the week to see how he was doing or if anything else had accrue since their last meeting….

_"Things are getting heavy here, Catherine." Tai whispered in his cell phone as he packed a small bag of his stuff. It was Wednesday and he had enough, he was living the house until the group could get together Saturday. "It's like I'm thrown in this cheap horror film. Everyday something new happens and it is not just with the family but the other ghost. Even the house cleaner seems to be keeping her distance…not that I know for sure but I sense it. Monday I woke up to one wall covered in frost. Not just a window but also an entire wall. The kitchen was trashed but I confessed, that might have been my fault. I get hungry when I do not get my proper amount of sleep. I had to turn off our source of water because the bathroom kept flooding and…" Tai paused and looked over his shoulder, "Not only do I feel as though I'm constantly being watched but my pillow is talking. I know it sounds crazy but I hear voices through my pillow every time I try to get some sleep. It's muffled so I can't make out what's being said."_

_"I'm sorry; I didn't expect things to get out of hand so fast." Catherine frowned, a feeling Tai could feel through the telephone conversation. _

_"You're frowning. Why?" Tai paused. _

_"I'm worried for you Tai." Catherine whispered. _

_"Well don't, I'm getting out of the house this afternoon. I will not be back until we meet up again. I'm going to Izzy's house since Kari's apartment is too small."_

_"Good idea." Catherine felt somewhat relieved. "I'll get in touch with Grandmother about the sudden development of your situation. Just hurry and get out of the house."_

….Since Wednesday no one had entered the home but on that Saturday afternoon as the group slowly peered through the entrance door, they felt the change. The air within the house was cold causing a chill to run down their spins. All lights were unable to glow and even though it was mid-afternoon, the darkness seemed to creep close to them, reaching out for them. Needless to say, the group stayed together.

Once Catherine entered the room with a fragile elder woman, they felt some kind of hope lift within their souls. This would be a person to help them and help the ones on the other side and what better person with eyes as kind and a smile that showed understanding and knowledge in what they were experiencing.

They sat around the small table with Catherine next to her grandmother then Tai, Mimi, Kari, Tk, Izzy, and Joe on the other side of the elder. Her name, Dominique and she would be turning eighty-three in four months. Tai instantly grew a liking to the elderly woman and was quickly charmed by her French accent.

"How are we exactly going to contact the child?" Izzy asked Dominique.

"There are many ways we may contact the child if the child wishes us to do so." Dominique voice was strong as her spirit. "I would like to express a word of caution to methods used to contact spirits. There are many techniques that have been used to contact the spirits over the years that include Ouija bards, séances, pendulums, EVP and ITC, EMF meters of such. I'm sure you all seen some of these devices used in your television shows."

The group nodding their heads as she stared them down.

"All of these procedures can be used successfully to make contact with spirits but they can also be a danger if not used properly and even then I can not guarantee what may happen if anything at all shall happen. However you must be made aware of how to properly prepare and protect yourself in order to reduce the risks."

"Wait." Izzy's eyes darted back and forth, "What risks?"

"Sometimes when you try to reach out to any spirits, there is always the danger that there may be other spirits, human or non-human, that may also be within "earshot" and decide to answer." Dominique answered.

"Non-humans?" Joe swallowed hard, "Like demons?"

"Right. On this side of the world, we have no way of knowing what the nature or personality of the spirits may show." Dominique advised.

"That's reassuring." Tk mumbled.

"But we already know who is in the house." Mimi looked at the group.

"But if we still wish to continue on trying to make a connection with the boy, we may make a doorway for other uninvited guest." Izzy explained. "Ones that is not present inside the home."

"Correct." Dominique smiled at the young man for catching on. "When I first started out helping others with lost spirits I witness people ask ghosts to give them a sign that you are here and I've seen others yell at a spirit and challenge them to prove they are present. I have one comment to say in these cases, be careful what you ask for."

"We don't need them to prove anything to us." Kari shook her head. "We know they are out there, watching." She rubbed her arms as goose bumps appeared.

"What we will try to do here is contact the child or any of the other seeming gentle spirits in order to retrieve lost lore and information, receives guidance, and maybe assists spirits in their spiritual world." Dominique made herself clear. "We are not asking anything to gain in our life. No wealth or information to benefit in our own lives. Understand?"

"No future readings got you." Tk said from his side of the table.

"Sounds like a plan!" Tai grinned.

"It will be through our compassion of humanity that we will be able to communicating with the spirits - love is the very fabric of all universes." Catherine added.

"That belongs on a card." Mimi whispered.

"Do we need skulls and mist or anything else?" Tai asked.

"I hope not, that just seems to creep the place up a little more." Joe glanced over his shoulder.

"The skull is used as a magical tool to create a portal through which we summon forth the dead." Dominique answered. "We do not need such tool since the dead are already present."

"That's good. I didn't want to go graveyard digging." Tai relaxed in his chair. "Figured that would open a whole new set of problems."

"I need to also warn you of spirit possession." Dominique added.

"Does it hurt?" Tai asked. "Have you ever been possessed?"

"No but I have seen it happen and the person posse is usually fine." Dominique smiled gently. "This is another way spirits may try to make contact with us. It is hard on the spirit but it does make things a little easier for us. It can occur during spirit contact circles, which we will performing, at varying degrees - be prepared. I will count on each of you to watch the person sitting next to you carefully; you all know each other well. If you spot anything odd about their behaviour, don't be afraid to speak up by asking the spirit a question about it in order to know who it is we are dealing with as well as gaining some kind of clarity of what may be happening and how we may be of help."

"I'm so for Ouija board." Tai nodded his head. "I mean if I was a kid, I'd be drawn to something that looks like a board game."

"The child does show to have a curious nature." Catherine told her grandmother.


	7. Chapter 7

I am really sorry it took me so long to up date this story. I don't know what happen. Here is a new part, it's short. The next and maybe the last chapter will be up no later then next week. Thanks for reading and again I apologies for taken me so long ot up date this story.

* * *

The single lit candle was their only resource of light they had in the large room. Sitting in a close circles, hands touching hands, legs touching legs, the small group of eight huddle over the circler table. Dominique held tightly to her granddaughter's hand and that of Joes. Her head was slightly tipped upwards as she chanted words softly. The fire of the candlestick added a shadowy affect on the walls causing the darkness to leap at the light.

Joe swallowed hard and closed his eyes tight. He did not know what to expect but only knew what happen on television shows, which was nothing good. He did not want to grip the Dominique's hand too hard in fear he would break her fragile bones so he induced pain onto Izzy's hand.

"Ouch." Izzy frowned at Joe.

"Shhh…" The group mumbled back, everyone had their eyes clothes so no one saw the little boy standing beside Tai, watching the group.

"Tai…" Izzy whispered.

Tai opened one eye and peaked at Izzy.

Izzy in returned nodded to Tai's left shoulder. Tai very slowly turned and stared at the bright eyes of the child who had been haunting his home. Now all eyes were opened yet their hands remain clasped into each other.

"Hey there, little dude." Tai forced a smile even though goose bumps ran up his arm. "We've been looking for you."

The boy did not say anything but he did turn to look at Dominique before he looked at the rest of the group.

"We want to help you." Dominique told him. "That is why I am here. That is why I spoke out your name and ask you to come to us this night."

"You do want us to help, don't you?" Tai asked, noticing the little horse the boy clutched in his hands. "You found your toy."

"I want my daddy." The boy whispered.

"I only called Yuta. I did not ask for his father." Dominique explained.

"We just need a little help." Mimi explained. "Your Mommy needs help, doesn't she? She won't talk to us."

The boy's lower lip begun to tremble and he looked around the room wide eyed.

"He's never been alone before." Joe frowned, looking at the boy from across the table.

"I want daddy." The boy started to cry.

"Guys?" Kari glanced around the room titling her head slightly. "Do you hear…"

"Ugh!" Mimi covered her ears as a loud screeching sound came from behind the closed door. "What is that?"

"Sounds like finger nails down a chalkboard!" Tk yelled, coving his ears as well.

"Grandmother?" Catherine cried just before the door blew open. The curtains flew off their hooks and blew against the cold air that whooshed into the room. Large pieces of future flipped over while lighter objects flew and bounced off the wall. The small group took shelter under the table, each leg of the table was held down by one of the boys.

"You made my Daddy mad." The boy frowned at the elder woman.

"Your daddy?" Tai screamed against the loud noises. "You sure it's your dad and not the other man?"

"Daddy's mad because you tricked me." Yuta eye brows furred together.

Tai stood up and ducked as a large book sailed his way. "We want to help. He's okay!"

"Tai!" Mimi yanked her husband down just before a small footstool whizzed overhead.

"Tell your dad to cool down!" Tai yelled against the howling of the wind created by Matt.

"Stop!" This time it was Tk who stood up and shouted against the wind. "You are a brother of Takeru Ishida. Well, I am a great-grand son of his. I was named after him. Look at me! I resemble him, I resemble you!"

The wind started to slow down and objects started to fall from the air.

"I won't hurt your son. You know that, don't you?" Tk went on.

"He's getting through to him." Catherine whispered.

"None of us are here to hurt him. We are trying to help." Tk's voice started to sound shaky even to him.

Tai poked his head out from under the table in time to see Yuta run to the lighted figure standing close to Tk. Matt bent down and scooped his son in his arms. "He's here."

"Who?" Mimi poked her head out. "Oh."

"We just want to help." Tk whispered.

"They found Chaucer, Daddy." The boy held out the toy horse. "He made him better."

Matt looked down at the small horse in his son's hand and smiled before kissing the top of the boy's head.

"We can help her." Izzy said from his spot under the table, his head peeking up at Matt. "We can find her and make things right. We just need to know where she is buried. You can tell us that. You know, don't you?"

Matt placed a hand under Tk's chin and peered into his eyes. "You look so much like him, my brother."

"He had a good life with lots of children. We are all spread out in the world now." Tk smiled shyly, ignoring the cold fingers that held his chin. "He tried to help your wife. Even after everyone else gave up, he still tried to find her. He put aside an award for any information. It was the only thing he ever regretted in his life. Not looking after Sora for you. Let me help you, for him."

Matt smiled and looked at his son for a moment.

"M'sleepy Daddy." The boy buried his head against his father's shoulder and together they faded.

"Matt!" Tk yelled out.

"Well that was a waste of time." Tai touched the lights back on to survey the mess.

"Maybe not." Izzy walked over to the window over looking the garden. "Look."

The window was completely frosted over and right in the centre was an out line of a heart.

"What does that mean?" Tk asked walking over to the window.

"Well I be…"Joe stood behind him. "Look through the heart at the oak tree. There's a heart carved into the tree!"

Tai was the first to move from his spot as he raced outdoors, Tk and Joe were close behind.

"Help. I could use some help!" Dominique yelled from under the table. "My bones can't just bounce back into their joints like they use too!"

"Oh, sorry Gram." Catherine and Kari both bent down to help the Dominique.


	8. Chapter 8

The group stood around the oak tree, looking up at the craved heart with the 'Matt' and 'Sora' in the center of the heart.

Joe took a deep breath and looked at the tangled web of honey suckles branching towards the tree. Once the vines had wrapped around the base of the tree, engulfing it in an embrace. When moving into the house, Tai had cut back the vines so give the tree some freedom.

"Come on, Kari." Tk grabbed her hand. "Let's go and see if we can find Matt and Yuta's grave site."

Kari nodded and looked at her brother.

"Keep her safe." Tai warned the boy and Tk nodded his head.

Izzy came up to the group with three shovels. "Well, let's do this."

Tai and Joe gave the shovels a solemn look but both took one in hand and Joe tossed the first shovel of dirt under the sweet smelling flowers.

Kari brushed the dirt off another gravestone. "Some of these are hard to read."

"Yeah," Tk agreed from another row of gravestones. "Glad there isn't many here."

"All of these people related?" Kari asked.

"Most of them. It wasn't that uncommon to have family members buried on private ground." Tk explained. "I found them!"

Kari raced over to the grave. Matt and Yuta were buried side by side; they even shared the same head stone. Matt was buried to the left, near another relative and Yuta to his right. There was no burial mark next to the little boy.

Tk took up a shovel and started to dig beside the boy's marker.

"Can we do this?" Kari asked.

"I don't think so legally but maybe we won't get caught." Tk smiled.

Kari sighed and picked up another shovel and dug beside Tk.

* * *

Izzy wiped at the sweat that beaded on his forehead and climbed out of the pit to get a drink of water. Even though the wind seemed to pick up, the sun blazed down on them causing some discomfort. He looked at his hands, blister were forming on his top knuckles of his fingers.

"Iz, come on." Joe grunted heaving up another shove full of dirt.

Izzy blinked and wiped at his eyes.

"Sorry." Joe apologies to the younger man. "The wind seems to be kicking up."

Izzy glared at Joe for a moment then picked up the shovel, high above his head.

"JOE!" Mimi cried.

Joe looked up from the hole they were digging from in time to see the shovel coming down at him. Tai pushed him aside and the shovel smacked down at the footmarks Joe had just monetarily left.

"Izzy!" Tai yelled.

"Leave her alone!" Izzy growled in a deep voice.

"I don't think that's Izzy." Mimi backed away.

"Tai get out of there!" Catherine helped Joe out of the hole, keeping her eyes on Izzy.

"She can never leave!" Izzy growled, turning his attention to Tai.

"Dude, drop the shovel!" Tai jumped out of the pit.

"She can never leave!" Izzy repeated, swinging his shovel at Tai.

"Catherine, a little help!" Tai ducked behind a tree.

Catherine looked around, "How?"

"You're the physic freak!" Tai yelled and duck as Izzy took a swipe at his head with the shovel. "Do some kind of voodoo on him!"

"What!" Catherine "Duck!"

Tai ducked barely missing the edge of the shovel.

"AGH!" Joe screamed and jumped on Izzy's back making the smaller boy fall to the ground. "Find something to tie him up with!"

"I'm looking!" Tai yelled scrambling to his feet.

"I have my silk scarf." Mimi untwined the scarf from her hair.

Joe fought with Izzy, finally managing to get his hands behind the boys back. "Hurry, he's stronger then he looks!"

Tai took the scarf and used it to wrap Izzy's hands together behind the boy's back. "That isn't going to hold him. It never held me when she tied me up."

Joe stood up and brushed himself off before looking at Tai. "That was a disturbing thought."

"What?" Tai frowned looking at his wife who had her arms crossed. "What?"

Izzy stumbled to his feet, tucked his head in and charged Joe, his head connecting to the other's stomach which sent them both back on the ground.

"Tai!" Joe screamed. "Owe, he bit me!"

"Izzy!" Tai pulled Izzy off and the red head to face him. "Izzy."

"She will not leave!" Izzy hissed in his unusually voice.

"You've always been like a brother to me." Tai solemnly told him before punching him in the jaw. Joe held out his hands to catch the red head before he hit the dirt.

"Oh!" Mimi ran to Izzy's side as Joe carefully lowered him to the ground.

"He'll hate you for that." Joe told Tai, "But will probably thank you later."

"You must have been close to the body," Catherine's grandmother spoke. "He would not have attacked."

Tai sighed before picking up the shovel and once more begun to dig.

"Maybe someone should get a box so we can put her in until we get to the graves." Joe jumped inside the hole and he too started to toss dirt.

Mimi and Catherine looked at the house then back at each other. Both were not too thrilled about going back inside the house.

"I've got box in my car." Joe never looked up, "It would be suitable. The doors aren't locked."

"Okay!" Mimi raced to get the box.

"Is this going to get rid of him?" Tai asked Catherine's grandmother.

"We won't know until we finish this task." She answered. "Sometimes ghost don't leave because they are attached to an object. This grave may be his object. I have some charms in the car which will prevent him from taken over another person."

Tai watched the elderly lady slowly move out of sight. "Do you think she could have given them to us before this happened?"

"She's old Tai." Catherine chilled her friend, "Old people forget things."

"I bet she was his personal property," Joe grumbled. "Just think, this guy got away with murder."

"Yeah, if he was living in our time we'd nail his ass with our technology." Tai agreed.

"Here" Mimi placed the box down beside the burial site. "You had some of those plastic gloves, so I brought you both a pair just in case."

"Thanks." Joe wiped off the sweat. "We will need to make sure we have all the bones."

"Do we have to lay them out perfectly?" Tai asked.

"No." Catherine shook her head. "I mean if a finger is mixed up with a toe it isn't a big deal that way. Just make sure the skull is at the head. The ribs, pelvic bone…"

"How many bones are there?" Tai glanced at Joe.

"About a two hundred and six." Joe stated.

"Not as many as I thought." Tai grinned. "I can count that high."

"How hard will it be to put them in the right place?" Mimi asked.

"It won't be that hard." Joe pushed up his glasses. His studies in the medical field would be a great help.

"Found something." Tai picked up a ring, flinging dirt. "It's an engagement ring I think."

"Here, let me see it." Mimi swiped the ring from her husband's hand and started to dig out the dirt.

"Okay…" Tai stared at his now empty hand. "Hey it comes with a finger."

Tai turned and picked up the gloves Mimi gave them before carefully picking up the bone and placing it in the box.

"Becareful from here on out, we don't want to break any fragments." Joe told Tai as he knelt down, clearing the site off with his hands.

The boys carefully rooted through the dirt, finding large bones and smaller ones and carefully putting them in the box.

* * *

"Here we are." The grandmother, finally making her way back to the group, started to hand out charms. "This will help keep him at bay."

"Will all of this really work?" Joe asked looking at Izzy with concern, "I think it will for Sora but what about…"

"By his outburst, we know that he always wanted her to stay and never leave unless it was at his terms. She's leaving now; there isn't any reason for him to linger behind."

"We have all the bones. Joe counted all two hundred and six of them." Tai picked up the box.

"You go on ahead; I'll stay here with Grandmother and Izzy." Catherine told them.

"Don't we need some kind of ritual?" Mimi asked.

"No. Everyone is doing fine." Catherine smiled encouraging at her.

* * *

Tk stood up from a decaying log when spotting his friends coming down the winding path. "Here they come Kari."

Kari looked over her shoulder to see her brother carefully carrying a box. "I take it you found her?"

"Dress and all. Catherine said to bring everything." Tai replied, placing the box next to the fresh grave.

"I have something for you." Mimi handed Tk the ring. "We were discussing it and we thought you should have it, being a relative."

"I thought everything went with her." Tk stared down at the ring.

"I have a feeling that this is okay." Mimi grinned. "After all, it's only a ring but it symbolized their love. I think it's rare to find that kind of love."

"How do you know Matt gave it to her?" Tk asked, looking down at the ring.

"I cleaned the dirt off and read the inscription. No one else could have given her that ring but him." Mimi smiled.

"In this life, beyond this life, I will always love you, dear wife." Tk read the inside of the ring.

"It seems he meant that literally." Joe smirked.

"So all you have to do is find the right girl." Mimi gave a head nod towards Kari. Behind Mimi, Tai was shaken his head.

"Well, lets get this finished." Joe jumped down the hole and carefully laid the skull at the top of the grave.

Tai cleared his throat, "The toe bone connected to the foot bone, and the foot bone connected to the ankle bone, and the ankle bone connected to the leg bone."

"Shut up Tai." Everyone shouted, Kari covered her ears.

"Critics!" Tai folded his arms.

* * *

Two hours later, Tai and Tk started to finish the task of filling the grave back up with dirt and when they were just about finished, they both paused in their shovelling.

"Do you hear that?" Tk asked Tai.

"I think I hear what you're hearing." Tai titled his head.

"Sounds like the little boy." Mimi frantically looked around and but stopped when she saw a slim, red headed woman. The sun found a hole through the branches and highlighted the woman, sending off a warm glow. Her hair was twisted and piled on top of her head. She wore a long green velvet dress that made her ivory skin glow.

"It's her." Joe whispered.

"Sora?" Tai dropped the shovel to stand next to his wife.

"Thank you." The woman whispered.

"Mommy!" A boy, appearing right beside Tk, raced towards the lady. She knelt down and held open her arms. The boy flew into her, wrapping his arms tightly around her neck. Sora laughed with tears flowing down her cheeks. "Oh my baby boy. I missed you so much."

"I love happy endings." Mimi croaked and leaned against Tai's chest. He placed an arm around his wife.

"Matt." Sora glanced up as her husband approached her. Matt lifted Yuta in his arms before embracing his wife.

"I have you back." Matt whispered to her.

Kari sniffled loudly and looked around at the group before turning and placing flowers on the family's grave. She and Tk made a simple cross for Sora; later the group will get another stone for the family.

Tk glanced down at the ring in his hand. To find love like that, He thought before glancing up and catching a quick wink from Matt. Tk glanced over at Kari and smiled.

Joe stood their smiling, thinking how much Izzy is going to kill them for letting him miss all of this, not even a photo. Now they all know, time does not always end for everyone.

"Before you go," Tai stepped forward carefully when noticing the family started to fade. "The maid. Where does she fit into your story?"

Matt and Sora exchange glances before Sora answered, "Ms. Brilliana had always been there."

Tai stared at them for a moment, "You mean she was a spirit before you two were there?"

The couple nodded, "She keeps the house in order." Matt explained. "And she keeps the light on."

"Will we see you again?" Kari asked.

Matt looked down at his wife and at his son, both beaming smiles up at him.

"Only tomorrow knows what it will bring!" Yuta waved his hands at the group before the family vanished.

"I miss them already." Tai whispered looking down at his shoe and picking up a small craving of a horse.

"Maybe he'll be back to play with his horse." Joe grinned.

* * *

Catherine and her grandmother looked at the woman dressed in black and white. She just finished cleaning the window when she too spotted the group in the garden. She gave them a nod and taken a glance towards the woods before turning and disappearing.

"What do we do with her?" Catherine asked.

"Nothing. She is the keeper of the house and all that dwells within. She is the soul of the house." The grandmother gave Catherine's hand a pat. "She does not harm anyone."

* * *

"You didn't think to get it on camera?" Izzy hissed at his two friends, Tai and Joe. "This is a major break through in science and you two were too caught up in the moment!"

"It was a touching reunion, Izzy." Tai held up his hands.

"And I missed it!" Izzy screamed some more.

"You also missed doing all the work. We had a lot to dig." Joe told him.

"I still have the maid. Mimi thinking about having a breakfast and bed thing so we could pay off the house faster. We use the house cleaner as an advertisement. Think how many people will reserve rooms to sleep under a haunted house!" Tai grinned.

"It's over though, right?" Izzy asked. "Everything is gone."

"Everything but the maid." Tai agreed, looking over at the horse sitting on top of the mantle. "Maybe someday they'll be back to visit."

* * *

Eight years later...

Tai bent down and threw a branch into the wheelbarrow. A storm yesterday brought in a lot of rain and wind, littering the garden he and Mimi kept with branches. He took a moment to stop and watch his son play on a wooden swing Tai had made a year ago. His seven-year-old child, Rio had his he bent back and looking up at the sky.

Tai walked over to him. "Need a push?"

"No." Rio shook his dark head. "I'm waitin'."

"Waiting, huh?" Tai knelt down so he could be eye level with his son. "I hate waiting."

"So do I!" Rio giggled childishly. "But I have to wait. It's part of the game."

"What game?" Tai asked, noticing his son's shoe was untied so he begun to work on fixing the laces.

"Hide and seek. I can only count up to twenty so I have to wait longer so he can hide." The little boy explained.

"Who can hide?" Tai gave his son a puzzled look.

"Yuta." The boy smiled. "He says his daddy said it was okay to play today."

"Yuta?" Tai stood up; noticing the craved horse lying on a blanket Mimi had brought out earlier to sit in the sun. "Rio, you didn't remove that horse from the mantel, did you?"

"No. Yuta said it was his and he's allowed to play with his toy. He said you are just keeping it for him." Rio blinked up at his father. "Is that true?"

"Yeah." Tai nodded his head. "But, you just stay in my view okay. No wondering away even if it's with your friend."

"Okay." Rio smiled brightly at his father.

Finished…………………

* * *

So this is it. The last chapter. I have written this so many times and when I had it right, my processor crashed on me. I lost it all. But here is an end. If I have many people with questions, I will do a page on answering questions. At the start, I was going to have Tai be a ghost but I just couldn't put him in that role of playing someone in 1800's. He is just too modern and too much energy. So it had to be Matt and since I am only comfortable paring Matt up with Sora, she was his wife. Mimi would have been ideal for that time with all her drama quirks but …Matt and Sora for me. The maid is still present at the house. She keeping up with it, making sure everything says the same. Mimi did open up a Bed and Breakfast and people do see Ms. Brilliana once in awhile.


End file.
